How to pay with Bitcoin? Today, there are several ways to spend your crypto, i.e. to accept peer-to-peer payments.
Among many others, there are Bitcoin ATMs, crypto credit cards, gift cards, or websites or physical locations that directly accept crypto payments. Here is a brief description.
How to pay with bitcoin: Withdrawing from crypto ATMs
For those who prefer to exchange their Bitcoins for cash, the famous Bitcoin ATMs or Crypto ATMs are available in almost every corner of the world.
You simply access your wallet from the ATM, exchange your BTC (or other cryptos accepted by the ATM) for fiat currency, and then withdraw cash.
Bitcoin ATMs have been around since 2014, or at least CoinATMradar provides all the necessary information since then.
And indeed, in nine years, there are now no less than 33,829 Bitcoin ATMs scattered around the world, with the United States holding the record with 28,625 installations. This is followed by Canada with 2,669 crypto ATMs and Australia with 395 crypto ATMs. The European continent is in fourth place with 275 installations in Spain.
In this 2023, the first few months have been crucial for the expansion of this crypto payment method. In fact, the first four months saw a decrease in the net growth of installations, with March seeing a record number of “disappearances” of Bitcoin ATMs.
This month, however, the trend seems to have reversed, with 515 new Bitcoin ATMs already installed.
In any case, Bitcoin ATMs are one of the ways to use the queen of crypto in a physical, secure and immediate way. They are particularly suited to areas of the world where the majority of the population is unbanked.
Crypto cards: another way to pay in bitcoin
Continuing with the list of ways to pay in bitcoin, one cannot miss crypto cards, an increasingly trendy tool.
In practice, for BTC and crypto consumers who are always on the move, crypto credit or debit cards are ideal for spending their assets, whether for online or physical purchases.
In this regard, both Visa and Mastercard, the world’s most recognised payment circuits, have partnered with several financial apps to provide them with crypto card services.
In addition, in order to encourage the use of these crypto cards, some providers have added services such as cryptocurrency cashback or bonuses and other crypto rewards.
Among the various providers of these cards are the Visa Bitcoinblack, launched in Dubai and the UAE, Binance’s Visa for some countries, and Binance’s Crypto Mastercard, just launched in Brazil. There is also Wirex’s Visa crypto card for Australians and the very recent Visa crypto card from crypto exchange Gate.io.
Typically, these cards can be monitored through their app. Not only that, but if the bitcoins and cryptocurrencies are sent to another wallet, then the peer-to-peer transaction takes place; otherwise, if the expenditure is in fiat currency, automatic conversion takes place first and then sent to the recipient’s account.
Gift cards: another way to spend your BTCs
Christmas, Valentine’s Day, sales… any time is a good time to give gifts. And so, for years, crypto startups have been ingeniously creating gift cards (or vouchers) that can be used in any store that accepts them.
Gift cards are also a new way to enter the industry, perhaps for beginners who lack technical knowledge.
Among the main and “historic” crypto gift card providers, we cannot fail to mention Bitrefill, which, thanks to its many partnerships, offers the possibility of spending bitcoin and crypto in online and physical shops such as Zalando, Amazon, Ikea, MediaWorld, Decathlon, but also in supermarkets such as Esselunga, Conad, Carrefour.
Recently, the Beaugrenelle shopping centre in Paris also signed up to accept crypto gift cards, in this case thanks to a collaboration with the Lyzi app.
How to pay in Bitcoin? Directly at places that accept peer-to-peer
If, in contrast to the Bitcoin payment methods mentioned above, consumers want to stick with the peer-to-peer of the crypto queen, then they should spend it where it is accepted.
And in fact, Bitcoin ATMs, crypto cards and gift cards work through partnerships between intermediaries, albeit non-banks. They only serve to extend the mass adoption of BTC, but do not spend bitcoins directly.
In practice, since Bitcoin was born as a peer-to-peer payment method, it is possible to search for those websites that allow the direct transaction of BTC between issuer (consumer) and receiver (seller) on Bitcoin’s Blockchain.
In this regard, start-ups that offer this method of payment without intermediaries also continue to grow.
For example, there is Travala, the popular platform for tourism that allows payment in BTC and other cryptos. Also the e-commerce dedicated to the sale of sports and healthy lifestyle products, Prozis.